When comparing Donkey Kong vs Super Mario 64, the Slant community recommends Super Mario 64 for most people. In the question“What are the best and the most revolutionary games of all time?” Super Mario 64 is ranked 10th while Donkey Kong is ranked 56th. The most important reason people chose Super Mario 64 is:
Super Mario 64, as a free-roaming, open-world game, was a precursor to later groundbreaking games such as Grand Theft Auto, and has been [cited by Peter Molyneux as one of the 5 most groundbreaking games of the last 20 years](http://thekartel.com/video-games/14067405-fable_creator_picks_his_top_5_most_revolutionary_games/) for this reason
Ranked in these QuestionsQuestion Ranking
Pros
Pro Still competitive more than 30 years later
Players still compete for high scores in tournaments and casual competition. The game is streamed daily on Twitch by people striving to beat their own PB or reach a high score goal.
Pro Free-roaming, open-world game
Super Mario 64, as a free-roaming, open-world game, was a precursor to later groundbreaking games such as Grand Theft Auto, and has been cited by Peter Molyneux as one of the 5 most groundbreaking games of the last 20 years for this reason
Pro Developed a proper camera and control scheme for 3D games
3D games prior to Mario 64 were somewhat all over the place with their control schemes, and game developers were still struggling to use the third dimension they now had access to. SM64 is a freeform game that makes the most of its 3rd dimension with fantastic control and camera orientation that we take for granted these days, but was highly innovative in its own time.
Cons
Con Very optimized world record
There is very little room to improve the world record, and the MAME record is close to the theoretical maximum. Getting a new world record would require not just skill but also a great deal of luck.